Where are the leaders?
Ben Harris

In years past, the Editor-in-Chief of The Cord has traditionally listed candidates and spoken of their strengths and weaknesses for their desired seat in office.

Devin Grady is my bet of the century for WLUSU President.

For WLUSU Vice President — University Affairs: it’s a toss up. Osborne has experience, Ballantyne has the pretty-boy edge that served Gareth Cunnungham so well and Irem Ali has gold posters. WLUSU Board of Directors (BOD) election: First you get a barrel, put seventeen fish in it… All of the WLUSU BOD candidates are new to the political scene — none of this year’s BOD are running for re-election or vying for the chance to move up in the ranks. One could argue that new blood is good for the vitality of the union, but a whole body transplant (I think I saw that done on ER) is often dangerous.

All of this is incidental though, as the full-time staff of WLUSU are the real life-blood of the union and too vital to ever be left to popular vote. The VP: Finance may propose the budgets, but it’s the Business Manager who controls where the money goes.

To make the student representation matter, a new corporation should be forged. Control of the profit centres (The Turret, Wilf’s, The Centre Spot, The Hawks Nest, the ferris wheel and petting zoo) should be left to this separate, autonomous corporation run by the full-time staff. This would leave WLUSU as a union representing students, rather than a corporation selling to students.

The Academic Affairs Board (AAB), whose only visible sign of life this year was the silent bid to make teacher evaluations public, could actually tend to affairs concerning academics. The AAB should be the most active part of WLUSU. Students should be actively lobbying for better quality education, not fighting for the right to see if a professor speaks clearly.

WLUSU’s problem is student governments rarely attract leaders. People who run for office in university tend not to have political aspirations after graduation. University politics encourages open-mindedness over decisiveness, a trait more valuable in a manager than a president.

The political climate at Laurier is akin to a well-meaning, moderately successful bank. Students deposit money, they receive services, they go to "customer appreciation" events and they rarely think about how the decisions are made.

Where are the leaders, then? Check your student newspaper.

The WLU Student Publications (WLUSP) race will be interesting because 1999-2000 promises to be a key fiscal year for WLUSP. New contracts must be negotiated to determine whether or not WLUSP stays in the Fred Nichols Centre, or on campus at all.

The WLUSP President will have to hold meetings with President Rosehart and Devin Grady to make sure Laurier’s journalistic and publishing pursuits thrive.